By Matt Agorist – June 30, 2023

In the midst of a brutal conflict in Ukraine, two of the world’s financial titans, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase, are seemingly leading the charge in an ostensible humanitarian effort. They are helping to establish the Ukraine Development Fund, a reconstruction bank designed to steer public seed capital into projects that can attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment. However, as those who are familiar with the words of Gen. Smedley Butler might ask, is this really an altruistic endeavor, or just another face of the long-standing war racket?

The echoes of Halliburton’s billion-dollar contracts during the Iraq war are deafening. These corporations, the backbone of the military-industrial complex, have found a golden opportunity in mass murder. The strategy is as lucrative as it is grotesque: profiteering from death, destruction, and then the subsequent taxpayer-funded reconstruction of the rubble they helped to create — all while maintaining a veneer of benevolence.

When we delve into the intricacies of the Ukraine Development Fund, the disturbing reality begins to surface. The World Bank estimates that Ukraine would need a whopping $411 billion to rebuild after the war. Here, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase see a bountiful harvest. The roles they will play in leveraging taxpayer funds provide them with the potential for astronomical profits that would easily dwarf any of their alleged “donated” services.

The chilling parallels between Ukraine and the Iraq war are impossible to ignore. Halliburton reaped billions from no-bid contracts to rebuild what had been shattered by war. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and a nation grappled with the fallout of a foreign intervention, while Halliburton and others cashed in on the chaos.

The more the dust of devastation settles over Ukraine, the clearer the profit margins become for BlackRock and their ilk. War and its aftermath create an ideal breeding ground for opportunistic corporate parasites. The brutal dance of destruction and reconstruction is a double-edged sword, inflicting deep wounds on humanity while filling the coffers of these corporations.

The financial giants’ noble facade of assisting Ukraine overlooks the brutal truth: the longer the war rages, the more they stand to gain. This harsh reality epitomizes Butler’s assertion that “war is a racket,” with the likes of BlackRock, JPMorgan, and the broader military-industrial complex reaping significant profits from the suffering and despair of millions.

What we witness here is not just war profiteering but the transformation of war itself into a highly profitable venture for corporations. These entities have a vested interest in prolonging conflict. The more extensive the destruction, the higher the potential for profit during the reconstruction phase. This dynamic serves to reinforce a system that feeds off conflict, creating an environment that incentivizes the perpetuation of war, despite its catastrophic human cost.

This perverse reality reveals the essence of Butler’s statement that “war is a racket.” The very entities that profit from war also stand to gain from the peace that follows. Until we break this destructive cycle, the suffering, the loss, and the injustice will continue to proliferate under the guise of reconstruction and recovery.

It is crucial to scrutinize the underlying motives of those who claim to assist in rebuilding war-torn nations. Are they truly benevolent benefactors committed to helping countries rise from the ashes, or are they shrewd racketeers capitalizing on the chaos of war? The answer, as history has shown us time and time again, is as evident as the grim aftermath of any battlefield — and it will never be found under a Ukraine flag emoji in your Twitter profile.

War is indeed a racket, and it is one that BlackRock, JPMorgan, and the like play with chilling efficiency. As Ukraine braces for a period of rebuilding, it is not just the physical scars that need attention but the underlying, systemic rot that feeds off such conflict.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter.